Posts made in June, 2015

Once in a full moon night I will take you on a walk to the countryside There, it will be just you and me and our solitude The silence, punctuated by your laughter, A jingle so effortless will echo all around Mascara will run down your cheek and tears will run down my heart When we share our feelings Such will be the aura of happiness and sorrow And there, under the moon and the twinkling stars I will confess my love for you Once in a full moon night. Jay P Ojha is a Human Resource professional. He started writing poems because he feels that this art liberates him and takes him onto a different platform altogether. He is a passionate person who believes in drawing inspiration and insight from things around him. He is fascinated by these lines by Robert Frost, “Took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference”. ...

Literature Studio was to launch the second chapter of its popular initiative Writer’ Circle in Central Delhi on 6 June 2015. The venue was to be the iconic Oxford Bookstore in Connaught Place. It was hard to imagine that things could get better than this. But they did, and it was because of the awesome people who attended it. Literature Studio has been running the Writers’ Circle for the past seven months in Noida and the amount of warmth, camaraderie, and support the group has managed to generate among the members is incredible. Noida chapter has people who write in both Hindi and English, from various age groups, and at various stages of their journeys as writers. This brings a variety to the group and gives the members a chance to learn from each other. After running the Noida chapter successfully for the last 7 months, it was time to take this experience to other parts of the city. The group that attended the first meet of Writers’ Circle – Central DelhiChapter was eight people strong, plus the facilitator, Vibha Malhotra. People from various walks of life had registered and brought with them a depth of experience and a wide variety of writing genres and styles. As a result, the event was full of fun and insights. It is amazing that we had such a brilliant group in our first meet. This is a very encouraging sign. I am already excited about the Central Delhi Chapter, and have goosebumps imagining the heights we can reach after such a wonderful start....

When it comes to tigers in India, we seem to be a united lot, at least on the surface. While no one in their right mind, in this age or time, would dream of openly declaring their passion for a good hunt, you never know what lurks beneath the surface, deep inside the heart of a person who proclaims to be passionate about conservation of wildlife in its natural surroundings. And this is how Abhimanyu Pratap Singh, the Maharaja of Baikunthpur comes across to Ram, our protagonist who has run into exceptional hard luck upon his return to India for his father’s last rites. In the US, Ramachandra Prasad works for Zentigris, founded by the first generation entrepreneurs, the Raja brothers. He has recently been promised a “board-level position” at the company and the company is at the brink of partnering with a Chinese firm. Ram receives a call from Guruji, his father’s neighbour in India, informing him of his father’s rapidly failing health. He rushes to India and all hell breaks loose, not only for Ram, but also for his employers, the Raja brothers and Zentigris. Abhimanyu comes to Ram’s rescue when Ram finds himself without money, without luggage, and without his phone outside the airport. Abhimanyu’s generous help only proves to be a temporary respite from the terrible events that await Ram. He reaches his father’s home too late, only after the senior Prasad has passed away. Decades old preserved tiger skinned, owned by his father, lands him in jail as he is accused of killing Burree Maada, a tigress that has gone missing from Kanha Tiger Reserve. He sells his soul to the devil, namely Feroze Goenka, a friend of Abhimanyu, for his release and gets sucked deeper into the muck with supporters of tiger farm, tiger poachers, and traffickers of tiger parts. Stories of Sherry, a strong-willed journalist, and Gangavardhan, a righteous IFS officer, are also woven into the narrative. On the whole, it is an intriguing tale of grey characters, many of whom are instantly relatable. Ram, charming and materialistic, shows all the failings and experiences all the dilemmas a man in his position is likely to face. Surrounded by grandeur, this once middle-class man is tempted and often gives in to his temptations. Abhimanyu, royal and powerful, though generous at surface, makes all roads bend in order to get what he has set his heart upon. Be it for making friends or for hunting a formidable tiger in the wild. Sherry, a talented journalist, manages to extract the juiciest stories from the most formidable people while working on her personal agenda of conservation of tigers in the wild. Though she manages to leave a mark on everyone she meets, she has a past that she is unable to come to terms with and a mystery she is unable to solve: Why can’t she sustain a long-term relationship? Gangavardhan, a brave man, ready to take risks for the right cause, probably the most likeable character in the book, has a tendency to foolhardiness that turns out to be his undoing at the end. The end of the novel, and mind you I am not talking about the climax, is as real as life itself. Many questions are left unanswered, just as they are in life. Characters do not reach their logical conclusion, as we normally don’t. And all stories don’t have a definite end, as they normally don’t in life. The author has done a brilliant job of ensuring that “the end” is just that – an end. Not a completion, not a finish,...

Somewhere as we sigh, A leaf liberates itself from the austere grip of a bark. Somewhere as our hearts grow moist, Prayers resound in churches. Prayers for the well-being of those that are, and those that are yet to arrive. Somewhere as we think of those that we are bound to think of, someone dispenses with his watch and clothes himself with overdone patinas that segue seamlessly with his bronze body and wooden soul. Somewhere as we think of each other, smiles fall off, facades drop, but the drum charades continue. Somewhere as we try to love, Clocks stop ticking, and the world hides itself beneath opaque sheets that we never seem to fathom, and hours don’t seem to recede. Trivarna Hariharan is a 16 year old author, musician, filmmaker and humanitarian. Her first book, School Days, was published in the year 2013 and has been placed in the British Library. Besides writing and reading, she is a Grade 4 Keyboardist and has received a distinction from the Trinity College of London. Her first film won the Chinh India Best Children’s Film award. She aspires to pursue art, for she believes that it is a tool that empowers a person to positively impact a lot of lives....